Conventional approaches to changing the value of a particular smart template list report table cell, and in some instances their related data fields, can be implemented using an object processing framework without needing any additional user interface coding. In some instances, the action of changing the particular cell value can result in a long-running action. For example, in the manufacturing sector, a long-running action (e.g., perhaps 2-5 minutes, or more) can occur when a change is made in an element of a bill-of-material (BOM) table due to the high number of individual components, parts, and subassemblies, which can perhaps number in the thousands.
In some applications (i.e., uses) of a smart template list report, a user could be initiating an action to change a value as frequently as every 15 minutes, or less. Conventional processes lock a user from making several selections before implementing the processing framework. During its processing of each single selection, conventional approaches can block a user from accessing other list report elements.
When multiple selections are made, conventional approaches can schedule these selections as a background process. Conventional approaches do not include notification mechanisms from the server to alert to the user that the action/operation is completed. Accordingly, the user needs to repeatedly perform an empirical refresh to observe and confirm changed values. The conventional approach to performing background processes is better suited to fields where cell values change on a daily, or greater, frequency and where the operations can take hours to complete.
Conventional approaches for performing long-running actions in list data reports lock-out a user from accessing fields in the report that are not undergoing action, while the action is ongoing. Conventional approaches are best suited for calculations that complete in under a few (e.g., about 2-5) seconds or less. What is missing from the art is performing long-running actions in list data reports while allowing a user to perform tasks and/or access other data inside the application and provide a notification to the user when the ongoing action is completed.